Fastener



Dec. 4, 1934. k R, T, DAWES 1,982,906

FASTENER Filed Oct. 29, 1931 Inveni'm":

Patented Dec. 4, 1934 Application October 7 29,

8 Claims.

This invention pertains to fasteners of the kind usefulin adjustablyconstricting a gap or open- 7 ing, for examplein a garment, bag, belt,band, bight or other article, device or element and relates moreparticularly to afastener comprising relatively movable'parts which arealways engaged, which may be relatively adjusted by as small amounts asdesired, and which remain in adjusted position until readjusted. Whileof 10'- general utility for the purposes just indicated, the inventionis herein specifically described and its advantages made manifest withrelation to it's embodiment in an article of footwearsuch, for example,as a shoe. 7

In common with many other articles of wearing apparel, shoes are usuallyp'rovidedwith an opening having appropriate fastener means whereby theopening may be more or less constricted. While certain types offasteners, for example,

of metal or other hard and rigid material, sometimes having corners oredges which injure thewearer or tear his other'garments, and are adaptedto close the opening only to a predetermined and fixed amount, othertypes of fastener, for

example, laces may be of soft and flexible ma-- provide a constrictiveclosure of adjustable type which, like the usuallacingmonsists of softand flexible elements which can not injure the wearer' or his othergarments; which may be of any desired color;--and whichin generalappearance may resemble an accurately tied bow knotlbut; which may betightened and loosed by a simple pull in'the proper direction, and whoseparts re main in any position of adjustment regardless of the stresstowhich they may be subjected in use,

and which may be used for constricting any form of bight;ba'nd oropening; all as hereinafter more fullyset forth. I I

In the accompanying drawing I haveillustrated by way of example oneembodiment showing the invention as applied to a shoe of a kindcommonlyworn by childrenor used for sportwear,

it being'understood that this embodiment has beenchosen merely asillustrative of the utility of the device and that the device its'broader buttons, snaps, hooks or the like must usually be 1931,SerialNo; 571,769 (o1. es-50) aspects isuseful for constricting openingsinother articles of wearing apparel as well as in devices in generalhaving openings which are to be ad-v justably restricted.

In the drawing, 5

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the fastenerin its most expandedcondition, and illustrating details of construction; g j.

Fig.- 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the fastener initsfully contracted position;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation to smaller scale, showing a shoe having thefastener applied thereto;

Fig. 4 is a top view of the shoe shown in-Fig. 3, the fastener beingfully contracted;

Fig. 5 is atop view of the shoe of Fig. 3, but with the fastener fullyexpanded, and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but to smaller scale, showing amodified construction.

- Referring to-the drawing, the numerals 1 and 2 (Figs. 1 and2)respectively indicate lengths of flexible materiaLeither independenta'sqspecifically'shown in Fig. 1 or forming opposite end portions of abight or, loop as specifically shown in- Figs. 3, 4 and 5. As shown inFig. 1 these lengths of material 1 and 2 are secured, as for example bystitching, to parts 3 and 4 whichmay be considered as representative ofthe edge portions, of pieces of material defining the opposite edges ofa gap or opening to be closed or constricted. The parts 3 and 4 maybe'independentelements or mayform the free ends of abight; or band orthe edges of a garment section.

The fastener herein'disclosed may be considered as comprising twocooperating sections of which the parts 1 and 2 constitute theanchoringor attaching element, and these sections may be regarded ifdesired as the ends of a bight to be constricted. Each section mayconveniently'be made from a length of .tubular knitted textile fabric:Thus one section com-' prises the attaching portion 1,;which may befiattened'before securing it to part'3'and thesubstantially cylindricalportion 5, hereinafter referred teas a gripper or tubular sleeve.'Beyond theend of sleeve5 the material is againfiattened' and thendoubled at 7 to provide the loop-portion 8 whoselength isfixedbysuitablefastening means, for example stitches 10. Beyond the stitches 10 thislength of material is provided with the extension 11 which,afterpassing' longi= tudinally through thebore of the gripper or tubularsleeve 12 of the opposite section, preferably is furnished at its freeend 9-with an" enlargement or stop 13", for example a knot'yto preventits retraction from the gripper sleeve 12, and betransversely through anopening 20 in the. part 11 at a point near but inwardly of the stitches10.

Beyond this point the extension 19 extends longitudinally through thebore of the gripper sleeve 5 of the opposite section and its free end 17is furnished with an enlargement such as a knot 21, and with the tasselportion22 if desired.

In making this device it is'preferred, as above noted, to make use of alength of tubular braided material, for example textile material,although material not commonly referred to as textile'material, forexample paper, rubber or wire, may be used,and in constructing'thedevice I prefer first to provide the loop members 8 and 16 of theopposite sections, then to passthe free end of the extension 11, forexample, inwardly through an opening in the wall of the part 12, thencelongitudinally of the bore of said part 12, and thence out throughanother opening in the side wall of the part 12, after which the knotl3'is formed. In the same way the free end of part 19 is first passedtransversely through an opening at the vpoint 20, then inwardly throughan opening in the side wall of the part 5, then longitudinally of thebore of the latter part, and thence out through another opening in theside wall after which the knot 21 is formed.

It is a property of a tubular braided structure to contract verysubstantially in diameter when subjected to longitudinal stress and, onthe other hand, to increase substantially in diameter when contracted ina lengthwise direction. While tubular braided fabric exhibits thisproperty to a very marked degree, certain other structures consisting,like tubular braid, of two series of helically extending overlappingstrands of opposite pitch exhibit similar characteristics, while othertubular textile materials show the same effect to a lesser degree, forexample bias knit fabrics. Thus when in the following description andclaims I refer to a gripper sleeve, gripper device, or tubular gripper,I intend to indicate a sleeve-like member, whether of braided or otherconstruction, and/or of whatsoever material which exhibits thecharacteristics above referred to, namely, capability of elongatingsubstantially and contracting greatly in diameter when subjected tosmall longitudinal stress so as to grip and securely hold any partfitted within it and which, when contracted longitudinally, shows amarked increase in diameter such as to release its grip uponan enclosedpart. v

The fastener device above described may be considered as comprising apair of tightening pulls 9 and 17, respectively, having their endsexposed to form actuating elements for tightening the fastener, therebyconstricting the opening to which it is applied, and as furthercomprising a pair of loosening pullsconsisting of the loops 8 and16,which, when moved in opposite directions, loosen the fastener, thereby'increasing the size of the opening. As shown in Fig. 1, the fastener isin its most extended condition. and it will be noted that the gripperportions 5 and 12 are contracted longitudinally and are of substantialdiameter. In this condition these gripper portions exert little grippingaction upon the members 19 and 11 respectively which extendlongitudinally through them, but if force is applied, for example to theparts 3 and 4, tending to pull the members 5 and 12 away from eachother, such action immediately elongates the parts 5 and 12, (due inpart to the frictional drag exerted by the parts 19 and 11) causing thegrippers to contact and grip the parts 19 and 11 respectively so firmlythat relative movement of the parts is effectively prevented. When usingsoft textile material, this gripping effect is in many cases sufficientto hold the parts against a stress suflicient to break the 'fabric. Onthe other hand, when it is desired to loosen the fastener so that theparts 3 and 4 may be moved away from each other, it is merely sufficientto move the parts 8 and 16 in opposite directions, whereupon the forceexerted on the inner ends ofthe respective gripper sleeves 5 and 12causes the latter to decrease in length and increase in diameter so thatthe gripper sleeves may slide easily along the parts 19 and; 11respectively, thus allowing the parts 3 and 4 to be separated. i

In Fig. 2 the fastener is shown in its most contracted position with thegripper members 5" and 12 elongated, as by stress applied in oppositedirections to the parts 1 and 2.

In Figs. 3, 4 and 5 the improved fastener is shown as applied to a shoecomprising the sole 23, the forepart 24, and the rear part 25. Theforepart is furnished with a binding 26 and the forward edge of the rearpart 25 is furnished with a binding 27 at one side and binding 28 at theother side, said latter bindings preferably terminating at their upperends in loops 27 28*, respectively. A strap 29 extends upwardly from theforward part 24 and terminates in a loop 30.

The upper edge of the rear part 25 of the shoe is finished with abinding strip, preferably extending continuously around the rear part ofthe shoe in the form of a bight or loop comprising 12 of Fig. 1 and withthe loosening loops or,

pulls 8 and 16%, respectively. The substantially parallel extensions 11and 19 pass through the loop 30 of thestr ap 29 and then through thegrippers 12 and 5 respectively, and. are furnished at their free ends 9and 17 with the.

stops 13 and 21, respectively.

When this shoe is to be put onthe footthe pull members 8 and 16* aremoved in opposite directions to .the positionshown in Fig. 5, thusproviding a maximum opening for the receptionv of the foot. When thefoot has been inserted in the shoe the pulls 9 and 17 are pulled in opposite, directions, thus constricting the top of the shoe about the foot,and when sufficiently tightened the ends are merely released, whereuponthe gripping members 5 and 12 actto lock the parts in position .untilthey are posi-- tively released by pull exerted on the members 8 and16%. The shoe may thus .be..,secured on the foot by pulling the parts 9*and 1'7 and may be loosened for removal simply by pulling the parts 8and 16*.

It may be noted that the fastener thus provided is devoid of anymetallic parts such as might cause injury to the foot; it may be made offlexible and soft material adapted to take any desired color; it isautomatic in its locking action but is readily released by a simple pullwhen desired; and it provides for any desired degree of adjustment ofthe opening without requiring the manipulation of special parts.

It is further to be noted that when the shoe is tightened about thefoot, as shown in Fig. 4, the fastener has the appearance of a perfectlyformed bowknot, thus giving the shoe an ornamental appearance, althoughthe formation of such knot requires no skill upon the part of the user.

For certain purposes it is not necessary to provide a fastener havingthe symmetrical bow-knot appearance and thus, as shown in Fig. 6, thefastener may be constructed without passing one of the extensionsthrough the other one as above described. As shown in Fig. 6, whereinthe parts are designated by the same numerals as in Fig. 1, it will benoted that the part 19 does not pass through an opening in the part 11before entering the sleeve 5, and while this fastener operates in thesame way as that above described, its appearance is somewhat differentfrom that of Fig. 1.

While I have hereinabove described certain materials as useful in theconstruction of the fastener and its utility for certain specificpurposes, I Wish it to be understood that it is capable of manufacturefrom materials of various kinds and that it is of broad utility, andthat all such uses and such materials as well as variations instructural details fall within the scope of the invention as defined inthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. A constricting fastener combined with a bight of material adapted toembrace a portion of the human anatomy, said fastener comprising a pairof gripper sleeves of braided material each united at one end to thematerial of the bight, each sleeve having an integral extension at itsother end, each such extension having a looped portion of fixed lengthadjacent to the sleeve and constituting a loosening pull, each extensionalso having an elongate portion extending longitudinally through theother sleeve and constitutin a tightening pull. a

2. A constricting fastener combined with a member adapted to embrace aportion of the human anatomy, such fastener comprising a pair of grippersleeves, each sleeve being constructed and arranged to decrease indiameter a substan: tial amount when subjected to longitudinal stress,means anchoring each sleeve at one end to said embracing member with theopposite ends of the sleeves in opposed spaced relation, an extensionleading from each of said opposed ends of the respective sleeves andpassing longitudinally through the other sleeve, one extension-having anopening adjacent to its sleeve through which the other extension passesbefore entering said latter sleeve.

3. The combination with a garment having a part adapted to embrace aportion of the wearanchored at one end to said garment part, each sleevehaving an integral extension provided with a movable portion of fixedlength adjacent to the end of the sleeve and constituting a looseningpull, and an elongate portion extending longitudinally through the othersleeve and constituting a tightening pull, each tightening pullhaving anenlargement forming a limiting stop, one elongate portion having anopening adjacent to its loosening pull through which the other elongateportion passes before entering its gripping sleeve.

4. An article of footwear having an angle embracing portion providedwith a binding of tubular braid, said braid having gripper sleeveportions at opposite sides of said article, a loosening loop secured tothe forward end of each gripper sleeve and a tightening pull extendingfrom said end of each gripper sleeve and passing longitudinally throughthe bore of the other sleeve.

5. A shoe having a foot receiving opening and in combination therewithfastening means comprising a pair of tightening pull members movable inopposite directions to constrict the foot receiving opening, and meansproviding an elongate substantially straight passage for each of saidpull members, the walls of said passages being constructed and arrangedto constrict said opening when said walls are subjected to longitudinaltension whereby automatically to grip and hold said tightening pullmembers to prevent reverse movement thereof during use.

6. A shoe having a foot receiving opening and in combination therewithfastening means comprising a pair of tightening pull members movable inopposite directions to constrict the foot receiving opening of the shoe,and grippingmeans of textile material automatically operative to gripand hold the respective tightening pull members where-by to preventreverse movement of the latter during use. i

7. A shoe having a foot receiving opening and in combination therewithfastening means comprising a pair of tightening pullmembers of textilematerial movable in opposite directions to constrict the foot receivingopening, and elongate gripping sleeves which decrease in internaldiameter when subjected to longitudinal tension and which increase ininternal diameter'when longitudinally constricted, each pull memberextending through the bore of the gripping sleeve which is attached tothe opposite side of the shoe whereby said pull members are gripped andheld against reverse movement during use.

8. A fastening device for use with a shoe having a foot receivingopening, said fastening device comprising. a pair of flexible tighteningpull members each secured to one side of'the shoe respectively andadapted when moved in opposite directions to constrict the footreceiving opening, a pair of flexible elongate gripping sleeves eachsecured to one side of the shoe, said sleeves decreasing in internaldiameter when subjected to longitudinal tension and increasing ininternal diameter when longitudinally constricted, each pull memberextending longitudinally through the opposite sleeve, and a pair ofloosening devices operative when moved in opposite directions toincrease the internal diameters of said sleeves and thereby toreleasetheir grip on the respective pull members.

- ROBERT T. DAWES.

